This is a direct continuation of the fifth chapter of "The Polygamy Project," starting right where that left off.
Knowing that he had to confront what was implied in the conversation that he had just heard going on the other side of Delilah's bedroom door, Timothy McGee knocked on the door.
"Come in," Delilah called out.
Tim did, clearing his throat as he stood in the doorway, trying to figure out how to start this conversation. Finally he decided to just get straight to the point, "Did I hear what you two were talking about correctly?"
"That depends upon what you think you heard," Delilah countered.
He looked between Delilah and Abby, asking, "Have you two actually been discussing a real polygamous relationship?"
Delilah sighed. Abby bit her lip, looking down at her hands. Suddenly it dawned on Tim that this must be a difficult situation for Abby, considering that she was the one that he and Delilah would be integrating should this polygamy thing actually become something that they did long-term.
Tim moved to sit on the edge of the bed by Abby and grabbed Delilah's hand, pulling her down to sit on his other side. He kept Delilah's hand in his and grasped Abby's hand in his free one, asking, "What's going on here?"
The two women looked around him and Delilah nodded resolutely – reassuringly? – at Abby before she began, "Women notice things about other women that men sometimes miss. That's what happened when I started spending more time with you, and then later Abby. It really doesn't take a genius to see that she still loves you."
Tim glanced quickly at Abby, seeing her flush painfully. She was somewhere beyond embarrassed; this conversation was physically hurting her. He squeezed her hand and she looked up at him, her gaze wholly vulnerable. It made him pull her even closer, wrapping his arm around her in a sort of hug as he turned back to Delilah, signaling that she should continue.
"I didn't want to make an enemy out of her, so eventually we started working at it and, as you know, we became friends. As we got closer, I realized that not being with you still bothered her – just like it tended to bother you, too – and as her friend and your girlfriend, I didn't like seeing either one of you hurting. So, a couple of months ago, the solution of polygamy hit me, and Abby and I got to talking about it. Then this project came up out of the blue, so," Delilah shrugged as she ended her monologue with, "Here we are."
"Hm," Tim sat there for a second, just going over what she had told him before he asked Delilah, "And you're still okay with the idea of this?"
"If I wasn't, I never would've brought it up, and I certainly wouldn't have come here for this project," Delilah answered.
Tim turned to look at the woman sitting at his other side, asking softly, "Abby?"
"Hm?" Abby asked, back to staring at their hands intertwined in her lap.
"Abby," Tim repeated, sliding his hand from her grasp so that he could tilt her chin, making her look him in the eye as he asked, "Are you okay with being," he paused for a millisecond to ponder the words about to come out of his mouth before he finished, "One of my two wives?"
Abby's eyes shifted away from him as she thought this over, and in that minute of silence, Tim leaned towards her, whispering in her ear, "Please don't make me choose; I love you both too much for that."
There were tears swimming in Abby's brown eyes when he pulled back to look at her face again.
"Would you really do that for me?" she murmured.
Tim glanced back at Delilah, knowing full well that if they actually did embark on this, it couldn't be just his decision or just Abby's, but that they all three had to be in agreement. When Delilah nodded, a melancholy smile gracing her pale face as she gave her silent support, Tim squeezed his girlfriend's hand in unutterable thanks and turned back to Abby.
"Yeah, I would," he whispered, barely daring to believe what was happening and the speed with which it was occurring.
Abby sniffled, finally smiling, first at him, and then switching her gaze so that it rested behind him on Delilah. "Thank you."
Tim just pulled her to his chest and kissed her forehead, not trusting himself to say anything while he processed what had just happened and what all it would mean.
"What if this doesn't work, though?" Abby asked softly. "It is kind of weird, you know."
"Oh, please," Delilah spoke up with a laugh. "We're a couple of tech nerds and a government goon; we're already weird, Abby."
Abby smiled and Tim chuckled, pulling Delilah in a little closer to him as he said, "I guess we'll just have to use this polygamy project as an experiment of our own to see whether or not this will work for us."
"It'll be hard," Abby warned.
"Because our jobs are just pieces of cake," Delilah said, taking one of Abby's hands in her own. "You want this to work, I want this to work-"
"I want this to work," Tim added.
"So we work at it together," Delilah continued. "And we make it work for us because it's what's right for us."
Abby smiled again, and reflecting on the three of them, Tim realized something that made him smile as well. He had an arm around Abby and was holding one of Delilah's hands and she in turn was holding one of Abby's hands. The three of them were all sitting there, together and connected, and, yeah, Delilah was right, it was probably a little weird, but she was also correct in that it felt entirely right for them. Tim felt at peace with this decision. He didn't even care about all the work and prejudices he knew would be coming their way, he just cared for the two women beside him, and something told him that would be enough. It would be hard, there would be bittersweet days – today was even kind of one of those days, he knew when he looked at Delilah – but in polygamy the three of them had found the answer to their predicament. They were okay with that answer despite the problems that it gave rise to, and they would be okay because of that bittersweet answer as well.
McGee's story was way shorter then I had intended it to be - I hadn't anticipated any one-shots in this series - but hopefully you all enjoyed this anyway! Reviews make my day if you feel so inclined! Check out my poll to tell me whose story you think I should write next in this series!:)